


Close Quarters

by frith_in_thorns



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Adaption to space, Awkward Flirting, First Kiss, First days on the Hephaestus, M/M, W359RBB
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 18:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14699526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frith_in_thorns/pseuds/frith_in_thorns
Summary: Mace adapts to the Hephaestus, zero gravity, his new crewmates, and one very grumpy doctor with a terrible bedside manner.





	Close Quarters

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is written for the W359 Reverse Big Bang. It was inspired by the lovely art by [subsequentibis](http://subsequentibis.tumblr.com/) \-- you can see a small version at the end of the fic, and please do visit [their art post](http://subsequentibis.tumblr.com/post/174041226503/my-art-piece-for-the-w359reversebang) to see it in better quality!
> 
> Also of note: Mace is Australian, I am not. I thought it was better not to attempt too much of an Australian "voice" and probably end up mangling it. If he sounds too British, that's why.

Mace coughed up the remnants of cryo-fluid from deep inside his lungs. It burned the membranes of his throat and nasal passages on its way out. His eyes streamed.

"The discomfort is momentary, Officer Fisher," someone said. "You will feel better shortly."

He coughed again, and rubbed at his eyes. What he was feeling bloody well wasn't _momentary_. It was several minutes before he could finally see.

"Hey. You doing okay?"

He definitely wasn't yet firing on all cylinders, but he still managed to dredge up a smile for his commanding officer. "Cap'n Lovelace."

"That's not actually an answer," she pointed out.

He groaned. "Yeah, I'm okay. They did warn us coming out of cryo would be wretched." Although _she_ looked suspiciously well put-together.

"I came out yesterday," she said, correctly reading his mind. (A useful trait in a captain.) "Then I brought Selberg out, and we checked conditions ahead of the rest of you."

Mace put a hand on the side of his cryo-chamber, ready to heave himself out. Then his brain unscrambled a little further. No gravity. He gave himself a tentative push, and marvelled as he drifted. "Wow. Guess we really are in space." He remembered now the first voice he had heard. "Was Dr Selberg here?"

"Yeah, he's over there with Hui," Lovelace said, gesturing down the shuttle. "He felt it would be more efficient to wake everyone up at the same time. Wake one person up, check they're not dead, then move on to the next. I figured I'd follow him with some emotional reassurance."

"Thanks," Mace said, although he was irritated too. What kind of doctor gave his patients the minimum possible attention in the name of _efficiency_?

He was still busy being annoyed when Selberg returned. "Drink this," he said, and thrust a plastic pack with a straw stuck in it at Mace.

"It tastes awful," Lovelace warned him, "But it does help. And if you'll excuse me, I need to check on the rest of my crew." She grabbed a handhold on the wall and slung herself from it gracefully through the air. Mace watched her in envy, then swore as he bumped his head on a bulwark.

"Careful," Selberg said, unnecessarily.

"Yeah, thanks for the advice," Mace muttered. He took a suck at the straw. Lovelace was right. Whatever nutrient slurry was inside the pouch tasted dreadful, and the artificial flavour laid over the top only made it worse.

Selberg attached various monitors to him as he drank,then took them off again. He didn't offer any insight into what he was measuring, or what the results were. Mace frankly didn't care.

"Acceptable," Selberg finally said. "Proceed to the shuttle's docking hatch and onto the Hephaestus."

"What, on my own?" Mace asked.

Selberg looked at him impatiently. "You need someone to hold your hand? You studied interior schematics, yes?"

During the training period on Earth, Selberg had kept to himself during their free time. Mace was beginning to see why. "Well, okay," he said. "Guess you're right, I don't need a tour guide."

"Report to my lab at 06:00 tomorrow," Selberg added, as Mace turned to leave. 

"Why?"

"Medical check-up."

"Isn't that what you just did?"

Selberg huffed irritably. "Do you wish your doctor to be informed of your condition in zero-gravity after undergoing cryo, or not? Because if not —"

Mace sighed. "No. No. Sorry. I'll be there."

"Good."

He hoped this wouldn't be a portent for the rest of the mission. He also hoped Selberg wasn't watching as he tried to pull himself along in imitation of Lovelace, and smacked into the wall instead.

"I shall add spatial awareness testing to tomorrow's exam," Selberg said, dryly.

Great.

-

The Hephaestus was… well, both bigger and smaller than he had expected. The corridors were small and cramped, particularly for a man his height, but there also seemed to be far more of them than were on the schematics he had done his best to memorise. Or possibly he was just terrible in zero-g, and it took him twice as long as it should have to reach his quarters. Which were also small, but hugely improved in his eyes by the trunk marked _M. FISHER: PERSONAL EFFECTS_ floating in the central space.

His opinion of Captain Lovelace went up by rather a lot.

After he had packed away his clothes and other sundries, however, he was at something of a loss for what to do. "I'm _sure_ I haven't been given my schedule yet," he muttered to himself.

There was a sudden outbreak of beeping; a medley of rather cheerful tones. He twisted around, looking for the source, and found text unfurling across a display screen on the wall.

YOUR SCHEDULE: FIRST ITEM. MEDICAL CHECK-UP TOMORROW 06:00. LOCATION: MEDICAL LAB.

"Oh," Mace said. "Uh. Are you the computer — the AI?"

More beeping, alongside text. CORRECT. NICE TO MEET YOU, OFFICER FISHER. MY NAME IS RHEA.

"Nice to meet you too, Rhea," Mace said. He wasn't quite sure where to look when addressing it/her. "I guess you can, uh, see and hear me all the time, then?"

YES, OFFICER FISHER.

"Charming. That's going to get a bit of getting used to. Not your fault, I guess." He cleared his throat. "And just call me Mace, okay?"

OK, MACE.

"I'm sure we'll get on like a house on fire." He remembered that he had actually been in search of information. "So you said I have nothing on my schedule until tomorrow morning?"

CORRECT. FIRST ITEM IS

"Yeah, yeah, got that. What about after the doc is done with me?"

FURTHER ASSIGNMENTS TBC BY CAPTAIN LOVELACE.

Okay. Free time. "I suppose I should start getting my bearings. Rhea, can you direct me to the engineering section?"

CERTAINLY. → → ↑ → ↑

-

By the time he got to engineering, Mace felt he was beginning to get the hang of zero-g. Or at least, he was crashing into walls less, although corners were still tricky.

The engines made him feel more at home. He might be a novice at being in space, but engines were engines. He and engines were good friends. Especially these ones — he'd been familiarising himself on an identical set over the last few months.

"But I'm sure you've got a few surprises in store for me," he murmured. No two engines were _really_ identical, especially once they'd seen service. They all developed their own idiosyncrasies and quirks, and he wouldn't have it any other way. "You and me, girl, we'll get on fine," he assured the Hephaestus.

He only left the section a good couple of hours later, when he could finally say hand on heart that he was satisfied with how everything was running. The Goddard project directors had assured him that Rhea was perfectly capable of keeping the station in stable orbing by herself, and would alert him immediately to any developing problems, but he had never been the kind of man to take such things on faith. It was, he took some pride in reminding himself, what made him such a good mechanic. 

Good enough to snag an incredibly competitive outer space assignment, anyway.

He paused on the way to find the mess hall. What good was being in outer space if he didn't have a view?

"Rhea," he asked, "Which way is the observation deck?"

-

The moment he opened the door he was transfixed by the star. Wolf 359, huge and red and _very close_. Most of the crew were here to study it. He was here to make sure they didn't fall into it.

He was paying so little attention to anything else that he almost collided with the other person in the room. Then he flailed to avoid them, which did very little to help. "Hi, Doc. Sorry!"

"Officer Fisher," Selberg said. "Still struggling with spatial awareness, I see."

"Nah, it's spatial control that's the issue," Mace said, cheerfully. "And you can call me Mace, you know."

"I would rather not," Selberg said.

Mace shrugged. "Fine, suit yourself. Hell of a view, isn't it?"

Selberg looked at him as if he hadn't also just been staring out of the window. "I suppose it is impressive," he said.

Now Mace _knew_ that at least some of the man's stiff neck was an act. He grinned.

"If you'll excuse me," Selberg said. "I have some important work to get on with."

"Okay, I'll catch you in the morning for our breakfast date," Mace said, impishly, and noted the way Selberg's frown lines deepened at such casualness. "Unless I bump into you again before that."

"Hmm," Selberg said, darkly, and shut the door.

Mace chuckled to himself. He hadn't known at all what to make of the doctor while they'd been on Earth. Now he had high hopes.

-

"Ah, Officer Fisher."

"Mace, please."

"No. Good morning."

"Well, I'm happy you think so, Doc."

Selberg cocked his head. "Are you not having a good morning?"

Mace yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I'd be having a better one if I'd managed to sleep."

"Ah," Selberg said, understandingly. (Well, for him.) "Body requires some time to adapt to being without gravity. Very normal."

"So I'll feel less rough soon?"

"One expects," Selberg said, vaguely.

No more reassurance was forthcoming, apparently. Of course, Selberg had been on space missions before. He was probably used to it all by now.

(Mace tried very had, but couldn't really imagine Selberg being visibly disconcerted even when this was all new to him. Sadly.)

"Now. Time for medical tests!" Selberg exclaimed brightly. In fact, it was the happiest Mace had seen him thus far.

"What sort of tests, exactly?" he asked.

"A range," Selberg said, turning vague again as he opened and shut several steel drawers in succession. "Sit on the table, please."

"The one with all the… straps?" Mace asked, somewhat dubiously.

"The restraints, yes," Selberg said.

And Mace had even made an effort not to think of them that way. He pushed himself over to the wipe-clean, slightly padded surface. He wasn't quite sure how to sit, but he hovered obediently.

Selberg pushed him firmly down and snapped a _restraint_ closed over his lap, pinning him to the table. Another just above his knees secured him there.

"Shirt off, please," Selberg said.

Mace raised an eyebrow. "A bit familiar, isn't it?"

Selberg rolled his eyes. "Shirt. Please."

"All right, keep your hair on," Mace said. He untucked his shirt from the elasticated waistband of his pants and pulled it over his head. "Where can I put it down?"

"Officer Fisher, it will _float_."

Okay, that one was on him. Mace bundled the shirt at arms' length and let it go. It remained there. He was fascinated enough by that that he only came back to reality when Selberg jabbed a needle into the crook of his elbow. "Ow! A little warning?"

"Surely you are a big boy," Selberg said, dryly. "I will give you a lollipop after."

"Yeah, I'm going to hold you to that." Mace endured Selberg taking several vials of his blood, and following that by attacking him with a whole onslaught of monitors.

"Hey. Lovelace to Selberg. Rhea, is this thing definitely on?" Captain Lovelace's voice came booming out of a wall speaker, dropping down to a more normal volume halfway through.

"Yes, I can hear you," Selberg said. "What is it?"

"I was rather hoping to bring my engineer on duty at some point this mission. Are you going to keep him there much longer?"

"It will take as long as it takes," Selberg said.

"No, it will take a very small fraction of that time. By which I mean, I want him on the bridge in exactly fifteen minutes. Understand?"

"I need to —" Selberg began.

She cut him off. "No, this is where you say, _Yes, Captain Lovelace_. Or you could go with _Understood_ , that'll do too. Understand?" Her voice was slightly sharper this time.

Selberg ground his teeth. "Yes, Captain Lovelace."

"Wonderful! In that case, I'm sure we'll all have a great day. Lovelace out."

Captain Lovelace was a personality, all right.

Mace sat through Selberg taking whatever measurements he was after at a significantly increased speed. Finally he was unclipped.

"You can go now," Selberg said.

Mace put his shirt back on first. "Hey, Doc," he said, a thought occurring to him. "You didn't ask me any questions."

"No?" Selberg looked surprised, like this was an entirely unexpected thing for a patient to wonder about. "Aside from lacking sleep you are fine, yes?"

"Well, yes," Mace said a bit taken aback. He shrugged. "How about you?"

"I am very busy," Selberg said.

-

It was amazing how quickly life on the Hephaestus started feeling normal. By the third day Mace had mostly stopped bumping into walls (and he had also seen Kuan faceplant into one of his computers. Knowing he wasn't the only one struggling made a vast amount of difference to his self-esteem). 

Victoire and Kuan spent nearly all their time together, working. Lovelace and Lambert were busy developing their rivalry into an outright animosity which everyone else was quickly becoming fed up with. Given those pair-ups, Mace felt he and Selberg were each other's best hope for decent company.

…Not in a _company_ -company way. Although Mace felt that first medical exam had laid the groundwork for a drawn-out game of casual flirting to amuse himself with. He suspected Selberg of also being amused despite himself. The goal was now to get acknowledgement of that, if not reciprocation.

It was a difficult task. If Selberg really did have a sense of humour, he hid it well. (If he had seemed genuinely bothered, Mace would have stopped, of course.)

Kuan, who outside his work hours seemed to have an indefatigable interest in other people, had quickly noticed and was deeply amused by the proceedings. He also joined in and flirted good-naturally with Mace, which Mace appreciated even though Kuan was disappointingly straight.

(Kuan also tried flirting with Lovelace, who slapped him down so hard he nearly left orbit. _Everyone_ had already let him know that it was a terrible idea, so he received zero sympathy.)

All in all, a couple of weeks in, Mace was pretty satisfied with his living and working conditions. He'd worried about them before accepting the mission — he was a proud extrovert, and being stuck with only a handful of other people for months could have been awful. But he was relieved to find he'd gotten lucky.

-

He was in the gym on Thursday evening setting up when Selberg entered. "Evening, Doc," Mace said.

"Good evening," Selberg said. "It is my exercise slot."

"It can't be, I've barely started."

"It is 21:00, which is when I am on the schedule today."

Mace shrugged easily. "Pretty sure the schedule was free when I put my name on it. But suit yourself."

Selberg waited. "You do not appear to be leaving," he observed.

"We can both fit, no problem," Mace said. It would be a bit of a squeeze, but possible.

Selberg frowned. "Gym is not designed for two."

"Yeah, but since we can't agree on whose slot it is I guess we're sharing. Unless you want to come back later?" He wouldn't usually have been so stubborn, but he'd been doing cramped, tight-quarters maintenance tasks for hours and desperately needed to work out some of the stiffness. He finished strapping himself into the treadmill and began to pace.

Selberg neither left nor resigned himself to the virtue of sharing. "You are _not_ in the schedule," he said, and barged determinedly across the room to the cabinet where it was kept. He got it out and flourished it impatiently. "Look! 21:00, Selberg."

Mace reached for it. "That's Tuesday's page," he said. "You put yourself down on the wrong day."

"I do not make such mistakes."

"Evidence says otherwise, Doc."

Selberg glared at him for several long seconds. Mace continued his pace along the treadmill. "Fine," Selberg eventually snapped. "I will go."

"You're still welcome to stay, you know. If we're careful we can work out around each other."

Selberg grimaced. "I would rather not." He returned the schedule and headed for the door.

He pulled at the door handle. The magnetic clamp failed to disengage.

He tried again.

"Is something wrong?" Mace asked.

"Yes, with door," Selberg said, shortly. "Will not open."

Mace freed himself from the treadmill and had a go at tugging on the door. It was indeed stuck fast. "Rhea?" he said. "Do you happen to know what the issue we're having is?"

Rhea beeped. STATION-WIDE LOCKDOWN IS IN EFFECT.

"And… why?" Mace asked.

CAUSE: UNKNOWN.

"Can you lift it?"

END-LOCKDOWN-PROCEDURE UNKNOWN.

"Can you at least connect us to Captain Lovelace?" Selberg asked.

COMMUNICATION STATUS: OFFLINE DUE TO STATION-WIDE LOCKDOWN.

"Well," Mace said, "That's just bloody brilliant, isn't it?"

"No," Selberg said, sourly. "It is not."

"Rhetorical, Doc."

"Needed saying," Selberg said, which Mace could agree with.

"So I guess we're stuck here," Mace said. "Together. In this very small space."

"In case you were wondering," Selberg said, "Stating obvious is just as annoying as rhetorical questions."

"I'll happily take some other conversation topics," Mace said.

"We should just wait. Quietly."

"If that's all you're offering, I think I'll go back to my workout."

Selberg put out a conciliatory hand. "Wait! No need for drastic measures."

"Is that really what you'd call a drastic measure?"

Selberg shuddered. "In small space, yes. I predict _drastic_ risk of unacceptable body odour."

Mace chuckled. "When you put it like that… Okay, I won't subject you to my unacceptable body odour. Not when you can't escape."

"Thank you for the consideration," Selberg said, dryly. He anchored himself next to the rowing machine. "I am still not a mine of conversational topics. How are you enjoying space?"

Mace gave him what he hoped would be read as an encouraging smile at this display of spontaneity and opening-up. "Space is pretty swell. I'm getting to really enjoy the lack of gravity now I'm not flying into walls. You?"

"Space is a necessary prerequisite for my research," Selberg said. "So I suppose in that light I feel positive towards it."

He was definitely trying.

"What about back on Earth?" Mace asked. "You got any family?"

"No," Selberg said, so immediately that Mace suspected he'd put his foot in something.

"How about… favourite place on Earth?"

"My lab."

Mace blinked. "Really?"

Selberg waved a hand impatiently. "I am boring, I am narrow-minded, yes, yes. Heard it all before, many times, but still my answer does not change."

"Hey, I'm sorry, Doc," Mace said. "I wasn't trying to get at you."

Selberg sniffed. "Refreshing change."

"What, from me? I promise I don't think of you like that. I like you!"

It was Selberg's turn to squint at him in bafflement. "You… like me?"

Mace shrugged, a bit embarrassed now but trying to play it cool. "Well, yeah. You're an interesting guy. Super brainy. Not to mention pretty fun to wind up sometimes." He winked.

"Hmm," Selberg said. "This is unexpected."

"What, people expressing an interest in you?"

"Hmm," Selberg said, again. He frowned a bit. "Please clarify. Is this a platonic overture, or a…" 

He hesitated, and Mace was stunned to notice a pink tinge spreading over his cheeks. "Are you _blushing_?" Mace demanded.

"No."

"Yes, you are."

"I do not blush."

"Could've fooled me," Mace said. "But for the record, Doc, I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable."

"I am not… uncomfortable," Selberg said. "Merely…" He trailed away again.

There was an opening, if there ever was. Mace kissed him. Very briefly, before pulling back to see the reaction.

Selberg went bright red, and was apparently lost for words.

Mace waited. And waited. "In answer to your question, I guess I'm good either way," he said, finally.

"Oh," Selberg said. He paused again. "This is very unexpected. I may need time to consider."

"That's fine by me," Mace said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Selberg's blush had faded, but it abruptly deepened again. "Maybe I should… collect more evidence."

Mace grinned. He moved in closer, and stayed there this time. "That does sound very scientific."


End file.
